Mars Brew Fest to return
Fans of beer, have no fear: The annual Mars Brew Fest will return to downtown June 18 from 5 to 8 p.m. to raise funds for the 2023 Mars New Year celebration.
The event will feature more than 20 breweries, plus additional wineries and distilleries. Tickets at the door will be $35, while tickets purchased in advance are $30.
Tickets grant entry with a wristband to the event, located on Pittsburgh Street and Grand Avenue, and access to booths offering free samples, along with additional food trucks.
Designated drivers get in free, though they will not be given wristbands for drinks.
“Right now, we have 25 breweries, which is our highest number ever,” Mayor Gregg Hartung said. “They are from across Western Pennsylvania.”
This year’s iteration returns to the typical date it has been held in past years, the third week of June. The 2021 Brew Fest was held in the fall, Hartung said, because of lingering COVID concerns in June.
“Typically, we do it the third Saturday in June, because there's a brewers’ circuit that knows that there are different events on different weekends,” Hartung added.
A trivia competition also will be held at the event.
In 2021, the Brew Fest drew just over 1,000 people and 1,100 tickets were sold. The highest the festival has achieved in past years has been around 1,200 tickets. Hartung expects the event will see a big turnout this year, too.
“We sell 500 tickets online, and we typically get 500 at the door,” Hartung said. “It seems like the match up is pretty much similar. What we get up at the door, we usually get online too.”
Last year’s Brew Fest raised between $20,000 and $25,000.
